


Nothing?

by Preciadology



Series: Creek Fairy Tale AU [1]
Category: South Park
Genre: Aged-Up Character(s), Alternate Universe, Creek Fairy Tale AU, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-02
Updated: 2018-10-02
Packaged: 2019-07-23 20:26:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,367
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16166387
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Preciadology/pseuds/Preciadology
Summary: It was the day after the ball and Tweek was at work, as usual. But wait...the two royal guards walking towards the shop weren't usual. Oh boy.





	Nothing?

Tweek didn’t know what was happening. This morning, he was at the shop behind the register, alone because his mom and dad were still away on their business trip. Next thing he knew, a couple of guards were marching in through the glass doors, the royal blue of their uniforms a stark contrast against the white interior of the coffee shop walls. Tweek froze in place as soon as he caught sight of them. They looked just as scary as the royal guards from Aladdin- the ones from Agrabah. Maybe even scarier because they were right there, walking towards him with purpose.

Oh god. Did he do something wrong at the ball last night? It was one of the best nights of Tweek’s lives. But now he was about to pay the price, he was sure of it. It was because he spent too long talking to the prince wasn’t it? Oh, _Jesus_ , man. He knew it. He _knew_ he’d get in trouble! He knew he shouldn’t have kept Prince Craig for too long. But Craig just wouldn’t leave his side!

The guards stopped right in front of the counter. One of them was shorter than the other but just as terrifying since now that they were this close to Tweek, it was more apparent how much taller and broader they both were compared to him. Tweek’s knees were about ready to buckle from underneath him as he pulled at his hair nervously, looking like the perfect picture of a guilty man.

Tweek spotted one of them glancing down at his name tag before he spoke. “You’re Tweek Tweak.”

It wasn’t a question. It was a statement. Because of _course_ he was Tweek _Tweak_. No one else would name their kid Tweek except, well, his parents.

Tweek gulped. “ _Ngh_ , yes. I-I am.”

The two men in front of him turned to each other briefly before looking back at him and the shorter guard spoke. “His Highness requests your presence at the Royal Palace.”

The initial tension in Tweek’s body instantly evaporated, replaced by a dose of shock. “Gah! Craig?! He wants to see me?! Why?!”

“That’s ‘ _His Highness_ ’ to you,” the taller guard sneered. “Now, come along. We shouldn’t keep the prince waiting.”

“Bu-but I have customers, man!” Tweek protested, an arm out to gesture at the dozen or so people sitting around them. “And my mom and dad expect me to be here all day until they get back tonight! _Gah_!”

“That’s not our problem. Our job is to come get you so that’s what we’ll do,” the shorter guard grumbled as the taller one walked around to go behind the counter and get Tweek.

— — —

And that’s how Tweek found himself sitting in the back of a limo not unlike the one provided for him to travel in the night before so he could cater the ball. Except this time, there was one big, burly man stuck on either side of him.

Prior to being forced to close the shop, he had to usher all the customers out, apologizing profusely as they left. Oh _man_ , his mom and dad were going to kill him if they found out he closed up in the middle of the day without their permission. They were losing _customers_ that way! But if the _prince_ called for Tweek specifically, it must be really important.

Once again, Tweek’s body was riddled with anxiety. _Jesus_. What could it be? Was Craig mad at him? Did he call for him just to chew him out for wasting his time at the ball and keeping him from his consorts? No. That couldn’t be it. Princes didn’t do that. Unless they were an evil prince. What if Craig were an evil prince this whole time?! Like Hans from Frozen! Oh _god_ , what if Craig was going to trap him in a dungeon with his arms shackled to the floor like Elsa?!

These were the kinds of thoughts that plagued Tweek's mind the rest of the way to the palace.

— — —

Tweek’s eyes struggled to take it all in when he entered the palace. The anxiety he felt melted away, just for a little bit when he was guided through the giant, rosewood double doors.

The place was _huge_ , his and the guards’ footsteps echoing on the polished deep mahogany floor with each step they took. He’d never seen _this_ part of the palace before. He’d only ever seen the ballroom which was beautiful but didn’t hold a candle to what was around him now. There was so much to look at- paintings, sculptures, pretty designs on the ceiling, everything was so _pretty_. He’d seen a few pictures of the palace interior before, but it was different when you were actually there. It was like stepping into a dream. It was unlike anything he’d ever seen before.

The walk felt much shorter than it was and in virtually no time, they arrived at a room with yet another pair of double doors. The taller guard left his side to open them, gesturing for Tweek to walk in. Tweek looked at the guard with questioning eyes before the man’s brows furrowed, repeating the gesture. Tweek felt his ears burn before he walked timidly through the doors.

It was a dining room, a table set up beautifully with four chairs out. Tweek assumed this was where the royal family ate together when it was just them. There was rose red tablecloth and small centerpiece in the middle as four china plates adorned the edge of the table with gold colored napkins and silverware polished to perfection. There were a few men, around three, standing around the room. They looked to be servants, or...butlers. Standing nearest to the table looking like he had expected Tweek was him. His Highness. Prince Craig.

Oh _God_ , was Tweek nervous about what was going to happen.

“Hey, Tweek,” Craig greeted, stepping forward to meet him. His tone was as if he were an old friend meeting up with Tweek to hang out at the park and not a prince who sent guards to pluck him from where he stood and bring him _here_ , to his actual _palace_. “I wanted you to have lunch with me.”

...Um. What?

Tweek swore he could feel his face crack at that.

“Y-you- lunch? With me? Why me?! Why- _gah_!” Tweek sputtered.

Before Craig could answer, Token, who Tweek remembered to be the prince’s advisor, came busting back in through the double doors Tweek had entered through. He was tucking his phone into his front pocket. He must have just come back from a call. And he didn’t look happy at all.

“Your Highness,” Token started, strained. “The Duchess of Lauder isn’t very… _pleased_...with your decision to cancel lunch with her and her family today.”

Tweek’s face burned red as soon as he processed what he just heard. “You cancelled on a _duchess_ to have lunch with _me_ ?! Are you _insane_ , Craig?!”

“Excuse me,” Token snapped. “You are to refer to him as ‘Your Highness.’”

“Fuck off, dude, it’s okay. He’s a friend,” Craig dismissed with an eye roll. Tweek’s ears perked up a little at the profanity. He just witnessed a prince _swear_. That was something he never thought he’d hear.

Token sighed, exasperated. “I’ll be outside after you’re done. You have an engagement to attend to after this.”

The advisor turned and promptly left before Craig turned his attention back to Tweek and continued. “Anyways...come have lunch with me.”

“Craig, I have to go back to the shop or my parents are gonna kill me. We’re losing customers each second I’m gone and they, _ngh_ , they’ll hate that! I’m going to get into so much trouble! And it looks like you have, _gah_ , a lot of prince stuff to do! We can’t just be having lunch together!” Tweek insisted, voice high and scratchy like it always got when he was stressed out.

“...Well, then, I _order_ you to have lunch with me,” Craig replied and the two guards who escorted Tweek into the room automatically stepped behind Tweek, preventing him from trying to turn and just break out into a run.

Tweek pouted, cheeks flushing red as he huffed. “You can’t just use your prince power on me! I have to go back!”

“...Prince power?” Craig said and shook his head, chuckling lightly. Tweek’s heart fluttered. “How about this? Have lunch with me now and I’ll buy all the pastries you have in stock at the shop. I _think_ that would make up for how much you lost being here. Then I’ll have my guards escort you safely back to your shop.”

‘Why?’ Tweek thought. Why did he have to be so _nice_ and _charming_? He had to wake up _now_ , because this all couldn’t be real.

Tweek sighed. “I...I guess.”

“Great!” Craig said, beaming. As if on cue, a man rushed over to pull a chair out for Craig to sit in, the other man pulling out Tweek’s seat and Tweek gulped, settling down on the cushion slowly.

“Brings us the appetizers,” Craig said, waiting a beat before adding, “please.”

“ _Just_ the appetizers, okay? And then I’m going home,” Tweek said. The men, acknowledging their prince’s request, walked over to the food table.

Craig frowned. “Don’t tell me you’re excited to go back to _work_.”

“I’m not excited. I just... _have_ to because my parents are going to get mad and sell me to slavery! Gah!”

“Relax. I won’t let them do that,” Craig said. And with a playful smile, “I’ll use my prince power on them.”

Tweek had to fight back the urge to return the smile so hard, biting the inside of his cheek as the men settled in front of them a plate with with what looked like zucchini and potato skins. What was he supposed to do now? He couldn’t just start eating like he normally would. He was having lunch with a _prince_. He was sure there was going to be some kind of... _tradition_ that you did when you were dining with royalty. Like dipping your fingertips into a bowl of water or just- something like that.

He watched Craig intently for his next move. Craig looked at his food before taking his napkin and unfolding it. Tweek reached over and did the same, Craig’s eyes flickering over to Tweek’s hands.

Then Craig began to fold the napkin, Tweek mimicking it. A left here, a right there, take this part down and fold it here, another left fold, unfold it there and...Tweek stared in confusion at what he just folded, picking it up in his hands to stare at it.

A flower.

He glanced at Craig, the prince placing his own little flower in front of them and folded his hands, smile on his face.

"Now that you have successfully copied me, you can eat like you normally do. I don't really care," Craig replied and Tweek blushed as Craig picked up a potato skin and ate it. Tweek began to eat too, the food still nice and hot, spices exploding onto his tongue and he gave a little contempt hum.

"Well, I-I didn't want to be rude,” Tweek explained, embarrassed. Craig laughed.

"Yeah, not a big fan of when people copy everything we do. My little sister doesn't like it either so she and I play those kinds of tricks on people that do," Craig replied and Tweek took another bite of the zucchini stick. Craig’s sister. He’s heard about her. Of course he has.

"Princess Tricia?"

"Yep. But enough about _my_ family," Craig dismissed, a wave of his hand. “I wanna hear more about _yours_.”

Tweek’s family? He had no idea why the prince thought _that_ would be more interesting when Craig was the one who had the king and queen for parents and a princess for a sister. “Well...there’s not much to tell. I don’t have any siblings. It’s just my parents and I.”

Craig nodded in understanding. “What are your parents like?”

“They’re...they’re alright, I guess,” Tweek answered quietly, casting his gaze on a spot on the floor. No. No, that wasn’t all he wanted to say. “But...they make me work at the shop all the time. I can never catch a break. I’ve been working there ever since I can remember.”

Tweek chuckled humorlessly, shaking his head. “I even remember taste testing a whole bunch of different flavors of hot chocolate for them when I was _five_.”

“You...you’re tired of it, aren’t you?” Craig asked and Tweek looked up before averting his gaze.

“...Yeah. I-I am,” Tweek admitted.

"So if you had the chance to...leave, would you?"

Tweek glanced at Craig, raising an eyebrow. “What do you mean, Your Highness?”

Craig shrugged. "Like if you had the chance to go somewhere else and possibly never have to come back to that again, would you take that chance?"

"I...I guess," Tweek said quietly and Craig smiled. Yeah, he would like that chance. To see and visit places he’d never been before. For so long, he’d been cooped up in that little town. His parents wouldn’t even allow him to go on field trips when he was a kid since they weren’t mandatory. They had him spend that time working instead.

Tweek had barely seen any place outside of the confines of their town. But he knew the rest of the country was beautiful. He’d seen it on postcards, in textbook pictures at school, images of landscapes online. He’d witnessed the picturesque view on his way to the palace just moments before. It was all so captivating, the change in scenery. Tweek wanted a different life, new experiences. Things he could live himself and not just through the fairy tale books he so loved.

"Good. I was hoping you'd say that," Craig replied and Tweek raised an eyebrow. Something was beginning to grow fishy around here. He leaned forward.

"What are you thinking about?"

"Nothing, nothing," Craig said, looking back down at his food. Tweek’s eyes squinted slightly. _Nothing_? No, it couldn’t be nothing.

Because that little glimmer in the prince's eye sure didn't _look_ like nothing.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading!
> 
> This is the first of a few little snippets of my fairy tale AU! It won't be a complete fic, I'll only be posting short little things like this. For a little context, Craig's a prince and Tweek works in a coffee shop in a town (kinda) near the palace. The night before this, Tweek was catering desserts for the prince's first consort ball.
> 
> If you wanna know more about my AU or ask me questions about, it's all on my Tumblr: http://preciadology.tumblr.com/
> 
> Anyways, hope ya'll liked this!


End file.
